NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A federal jury has convicted a Tennessee podiatrist in a scheme to defraud Medicare and other health care benefit programs.
U.S. Attorney Donald Cochran's office in Nashville says 51-year-old John J. Cauthon of Murfreesboro was convicted of four counts of health care fraud Wednesday.
Court testimony and documents say Cauthon defrauded Medicare, TennCare and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee from May 2014 to August 2015.
Prosecutors say Cauthon submitted fraudulent claims for surgeries he didn't perform and went to Tennessee nursing homes counting routine foot care as nail avulsions, which receives higher Medicare reimbursement.
His former employees testified that Cauthon prescribed unnecessary ankle braces and pocketed Medicare money from equipment patients returned or never picked up.
Cauthon faces up to 10 years in prison upon his Jan. 26 sentencing.